Nutritional suitability of a plant-based diet for maintenance of healthy adult dogs

基于植物的饮食在北美宠物食品市场中迅速普及。这一趋势的最大驱动力是素食主义生活哲学的日益流行，尤其是在宠物主人中。避免食用动物产品与宠物更大的亲和力有关，据报道，宠物主人中的素食主义者比一般公众更多。对于许多这些不吃肉的宠物主人来说，饲养食肉宠物存在道德困境-他们在自己的饮食中避免动物产品，但与依赖动物的动物生活在一起，传统上来自动物产品，导致内疚感和内部冲突。商业植物性宠物食品越来越多地提供给宠物主人，但很少有数据支持这种做法。很少有研究检查这些饮食的营养充足性，只有少数研究检查植物性饮食的营养成分或喂食植物性饮食的狗的选定健康参数。关于植物性饮食满足狗的营养需求的能力存在严重的问题，特别是关于传统上在动物产品中发现的必需营养素，例如含硫氨基酸，维生素B12和D，以及这些营养素与消化率相关的可用性。此外，研究表明，严格食用植物性饮食的人类肠道中的微生物种群会发生变化。特定的微生物学特征与某些健康和疾病结果有关，但没有关于植物性饮食对狗肠道微生物影响的数据。目前还没有全面的研究来检查喂食植物性饮食的狗的健康，营养状况，微生物组和身体组成。虽然人们认识到，家犬是机会主义的肉食杂食动物，理论上它们可以在适当配制的完整和平衡的植物性食物中茁壮成长，但研究尚未证明这一点。

Plant-based diets are rapidly growing in popularity within the North American pet food market. The largest driver of this trend is the increasing prevalence of the vegan life philosophy, particularly so amongst pet owners. Avoidance of eating animal products has been associated with greater affinity for pets, and veganism is reportedly greater amongst pet owners than in the general public. For many of these meat-avoiding pet owners, there is a moral dilemma regarding the husbandry of carnivorous pets - they avoid animal products in their own diets yet live with animals who rely on them for their nutritional sustenance, traditionally derived from animal products, resulting in feelings of guilt and internal conflict. Commercial plant-based pet foods are becoming increasingly available to pet owners, yet there is very little data to support this practice. Few studies have examined the nutritional sufficiency of these diets, with only a handful of studies either examining the nutrient content of plant-based diets or selected health parameters of dogs fed plant-based diets. Serious concerns exist regarding the ability of plant-based diets to meet the nutritional requirements of dogs, particularly concerning the essential nutrients which are traditionally found in animal products, such as sulfur amino acids, vitamins B12 and D, and the availability of these nutrients in relation to digestibility. Furthermore, it has been shown that humans eating strictly plant-based diets exhibit changes in the microbial populations in their gut. Particular microbiological profiles have been associated with certain health and disease outcomes, yet there is no data regarding the effects of plant-based diets on the gut microbes in dogs. No comprehensive studies have been performed which have examined the health, nutrient status, microbiome and body composition of dogs fed a plant-based diet. While it is recognized that domestic dogs are opportunistic carnivorous omnivores and they may in theory thrive on appropriate formulated complete and balanced plant-based foods, research has yet to demonstrate this.